Tomato Varamin virus: a new tospovirus of tomatoes in Iran
In Iran, during surveys on Tomato spotted wilt tospovirus (TSWV) in the major tomato-producing regions, tomato fruits showing a bright yellow ring pattern were observed. A tospovirus was isolated by mechanical transmission to herbaceous hosts. Although typical tospovirus virions were observed in electron microscopy, a panel of antibodies used for detection and identification of known tospoviruses by ELISA failed to react with this isolate. Molecular analysis showed that this virus was a distinct tospovirus species, whose closest relative was Iris yellow spot tospovirus. The name Tomato Varamin virus has now been proposed for this new tospovirus species (Tomato fruit yellow ring virus was proposed earlier but is now a synonym). Tomato Varamin tospovirus was mostly found on tomatoes but was also detected on ornamentals (e.g. Althaea, Calendula, Chrysanthemum, Cyclamen, Dianthus, Ficus benjamina, Rosa, Saintpaulia, Pelargonium, Tagetes, Verbena) and weeds (e.g. Amaranthus, Chenopodium album, Cuscuta, Euphorbia seguieriana, Lactuca aculeata), and in mixed infections with TSWV.
Sources
Ghotbi T, Shahraeen N, Winter S (2005) Occurrence of tospoviruses in ornamental and weed species in Markazi and Tehran provinces in Iran. Plant Disease 89(4), 425-429.
Winter S, Shahraeen N, Koerbler M, Lesemann DE (2005) Characterisation of Tomato fruit yellow ring virus: a new tospovirus species infecting tomato in Iran. New Disease Reports, Volume 11: February 2005 - July 2005.
http://www.bspp.org.uk/ndr/july2005/2005-34.asp